7 days of Hell

Well, it's been seven days since we published online a first taste of our new recording, and in all honesty we were very pleased with the positive response we received. Time continues to move forward, as do we, and no matter the obstacles placed in front of us, we as a band always find a way to overcome them. From crooked contracts, to the censorship placed upon us by certain magazines, from feeble 1 US dollar royalty offers, to illegal downloads.

 

The actual digital release date is only a matter of days away, and upon receipt of the artwork we shall send the finished master to the factory to be pressed onto vinyl via our own WHITE HORSE label. We hope around the end of October, which would mean  mid to late November when we can offer copies for sale in Europe, and publish a small list of mail orders around the globe we have chosen to distribute copies. Most certainly, it will be available via BLACK TEARS and INTO THE VOID in Europe, or directly from us.

 

 At this point, having decided to push ahead, our future plans are simple, to play some more live dates which we have been promising, but had no time to do so due to other commitments, and to begin work on our next release, "TO SOL A THANE". This will take the form of a five song Mini LP, released upon the same formats, and unless something changes drastically, via the same channels. 

 

"TO SOL A THANE", "WHITE HORSE HILL", "BEHOLD, A MAN OF STRAW" will be included as well as two yet unnamed compositions. We aim to adhere to the same strict song writing standards, and we should imagine a running time of 35 to 40 minutes. When we enter the studio is down to purely when we have spent some time jamming on the songs and their arrangements. The Mini-LP format in truth suits our position best, we live in different parts of England/Europe and do not have any label pushing us to record 60 minutes worth of new songs to appeal to a specific demographic. Quality, not quantity is the only thing that matters at the end of the day to us, not 60 minutes of musical dross as some bands are keen to release and have their label tout it using the sales pitch of "as good as Candlemass".

 

Another short news update will be made in a week or thereabouts when we shall alert those interested in the availability of "DEATH'S CROWN IS VICTORY" to purchase via download, or simply to listen to via the internets.  Again, we offer our thanks to all those who support us. Never Surrender, no remorse.

 

I Am The Hunter

Friends and Comrades,

 

It's the morning of the autumn equinox, although it's early we thought we may get the ball rolling, and here is the first taste of what we have being involved in creating the past few months. Recorded at GN Studios in Huddersfield, we are much in debt to our recording engineer and also our mix and mastering engineer for their patience and advice and most importantly, their hard work in bringing out the best in us.

 

The past.

 

The past is dead, we have no interest in those who fell by the wayside, weighed down by their vanity and avarice, they are formless shades, no more of a concern to us with their vapid waxings lyrical of self importance, than any other minor irritation. Let them , and their sycophants begone, cast back into the pit of mediocrity they so richly deserve

 

The present

 

The present is here, is now,it is the five of us, making music we enjoy and to the best of our abilities for our own enjoyment

 

The future.

 

The future is what we choose to make of it, we choose therefore the following. In a matter of weeks we will make the whole of this recording available to download for a small fee upon our bandcamp site, and begin to put into production the vinyl version.

 

Four songs, 27 minutes, of epic heavy metal.

 

As a bonus, we will also release upon Irelands "INTO THE VOID RECORDS" a cassette version for those of you who enjoy this format, and to further cement our longstanding relationship with our Irish comrades.

 

A compact disc version will be available, but only from our future gigs, we will be offering vinyl via mail order though.

 

We encourage you all to share this video on your own pages, help us spread the word. And over the next few days, we'll make a few more bits of interesting news available. Until then, enjoy the first glimpse of the new record, and never surrender!

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn Equinox 2013

The Final Countdown

We are currently mixing, and finalising the new release details. Until then here is a small video of our Bassist making an unholy racket. It comes as no surprise to us as well, that what we have laid down in the studio has inspired us to start rehearsals again ready for some gigs and our next release after this one....

Studio Report II

Hound Of Hell, The Studio Mascot

Making A Loud Noise

Louder Than Hell

Trying To Hide, from the Hound Of Hell

Studio Report

Upon arrival, after driving round the windswept streets and rain lashed back alleys of Northern England for more than 18 hours searching for our destination, we leapt out of the Solstice armoured personnel carrier to be confronted by the sight of a virtual military style compound. Razor wire and broken glass cemented atop whitewashed walls surrounded the studio buildings, and to compliment this, a slavering Staffordshire Bull Terrier which snapped hungrily at Andy’s groinal regions through gaps in the main gates steel mesh.

“Never mind him lads” sounded a whisky soaked death rattle of a voice, “I fed him yesterday with a stray taxi driver”. We turned and faced our studio engineer for the session; a grim pallor lit his features in the gray light and pissing rain of the cheery Yorkshire spring weather. First mate on the Good ship Venus, and now turned sound emporium proprietor, Kerry “The Hatchet” Hughes gazed upon our dishevelled forms, a gleam of contempt in his glass eye as he decided to himself whether to feed us to his dog, Nosher, or welcome us in, or maybe bludgeon us with the piece of lead piping he carried in his gnarled club of a fist.

Our newest recruit, Squire James twitched nervously, his nervous tick which normally only surfaced after 17 pints of real ale and a kebab becoming more apparent, as he noticed the backstreet we were now in was deserted (except, for a urine soaked corpse of a tramp someone had left in a shopping trolley). We were on our own, and there was now no going back.

“Let us in ya bastard” mumbled Andy, his eyes averted and sweeping the ground as if looking for spare change for a bottle of cider, or a discarded jazz mag. The hatchet again cast a withering gaze with his glass eye upon us, and with a laugh that sounded closer to a broken beer glass being inserted between the buttocks of a nancy boy, swung back the gates to allow us entry….

To be continued....

Forward To Extinction

Finally, we will be ensconced in a recording studio in a matter of weeks to begin laying down some new songs, "FORTRESS ENGLAND", "I AM THE HUNTER", "DEATH'S CROWN IS VICTORY" and "AEQUINOCTIUM III" will be first studio recordings we have made in quite some time. Naturally, we are pretty excited to hear the results of our work over the past few months and what the results of our labours are.

Upon completion, we shall review the results and begin working towards a second set of studio demo's with some more songs. The demo's we complete will make up the bulk of the "ENGLANDER" album in rough draft, but something will appear in some form shortly before we play a few more European festival dates this summer. Watch this space for details...

For the internet orientated among you, there is now a SOLSTICE youtube channel, over the next few months we will add some old live footage, and whatever else takes our fancy. Search for "Solstice-Englander" or use the link below

https://www.youtube.com/user/SolsticeEnglander

Finally, a big thankyou to Steve at Vibrations Rehearsal studio, for his hospitality and service these past 4 months, we appreciate it!!